PRECIOUS METALS

Body recovered at Obuasi

AngloGold Ashanti says the body of a miner missing since a fall of ground incident on May 18 at its Obuasi mine in Ghana was recovered by rescue workers on Saturday.

 Mining remains suspended at AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine in Ghana

Mining remains suspended at AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine in Ghana

The man was a member of the Underground Mining Alliance (UMA), a joint venture between ASX-listed Perenti Global's Africa Underground Mining Services and local contractor Rocksure.

"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of our deceased team member who have been affected by this tragic event," Perenti said today.

It said UMA was providing ongoing support to the family and fellow workers at Obuasi.

Both Perenti and AngloGold thanked the mine rescue teams who searched "tirelessly" in difficult conditions.

Mining remained suspended, AngloGold said yesterday.

It reiterated it was conducting an in-depth, area-by-area assessment of the mine design, schedule and ground management plans before it would progressively resume production.

The company had last week suspended 2021 guidance for Obuasi and flagged a delay to the mine's phase two redevelopment.

Obuasi had been expected to deliver 300,000-350,000 ounces of gold this year and had produced 80,000oz to May 18.

The incident is subject to a "thorough investigation".

According to early indications, the geotechnical incident was likely caused by the failure of a horizontal, or sill pillar, in one of the mine's smaller mining stopes, the company said last week.

The mine had been mothballed in 2016 and restarted in 2019, with the redevelopment ramping up.

Once operating at steady state, it was expected to be one of the primary drivers of AngloGold Ashanti's production growth over the next two years.

AngloGold shares (JSE: ANG) are trading towards the lower end of a one-year range and closed down 1% on Friday to R330, valuing it about R138 billion (US$10 billion).

Perenti (ASX: PRN) shares are similarly towards the bottom of a 12-month span, having tumbled earlier this month on outlining "headwinds" challenging its growth outlook.

It was trading close to A67c this afternoon, capitalising it at $468 million (US$362 million).

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